Water Coach Green Swamp Algae Tactics Does your pool look like a DC Comics Swamp Thing movie? Are you afraid the Creature from The Black Lagoon will climb out of your pool? Do you think there might be new life forms in your pool? Can t see more than a few inches into the water and it is murky green? Do you think you have finally killed the algae only to have it return? Feel like you tried everything and you might have to take drastic measures? Well start smiling that wicked I-am-going-to-win smile because we have a sure-fire way of getting rid of algae for good. And maintaining a free chlorine level that is based on the CYA (cyanuric acid) level will keep algae away forever. (More later.) The method only uses chlorine to get rid of the algae. That s right, all you need is some inexpensive liquid chlorine or liquid bleach or pool store calcium hypochlorite. You don t need expensive algaecides or other specialty chemicals. This method uses a very high level of chlorine and maintains the level long enough to ensure that all the algae is killed. It requires a little preparation, some focused attention for a couple of days, and some follow up. In the end you will have crystal clear algae-free water. is written for pools with extreme algae and murky water that has been that way for a long time. Because it uses high levels of chlorine, Algae Tactics is not recommended for indoor pools and no one should be in the pool until the algae is gone and the chlorine level is less than 4.0 ppm. We are not the first to recommend this type of method or procedure for algae. For years pool service technicians have been using high levels of chlorine in extreme cases to get rid of algae and they had varying degrees of success. This was probably because the high level of chlorine was not maintained and sometimes it was high enough and long enough and sometimes it wasn t. Now there is a way to monitor and maintain a high level chlorine and with some follow up completely rid your pool of algae and keep it from coming back. Copyright 2015 Lowry Consulting Group, LLC Page 1 All rights reserved. Duplication not permitted without written permission.
Overview Algae are ever-changing, living, mutating plants and a pool is a dynamic constantly changing aquatic environment. The water is different in every pool. No two are the same. So individual pools will have different kinds of algae, different growth rates and different nutrient sources - all contributing to the swamp. Algae can double in population in 3 to 8 hours. Because of this, when you are battling algae, you have to be diligent and not give algae any time to start regrowing or reproducing. To prevent uncontrolled growth, the kill rate must exceed the growth rate. Specifically, that means killing more than half of the algae in the time that it takes algae to double in population. Using the amount of chlorine we recommend has been called hyper-chlorination or mega-chlorination because it is much more than super-chlorination which is adding about 5-10 ppm of chlorine. The free chlorine level you need for killing algae depends on the CYA (cyanuric acid) level in your water. The higher the CYA (cyanuric acid) level, the more free chlorine you need. Knowing the CYA level in your water allows us to calculate the amount of chlorine necessary to kill algae. Getting Ready Check List Read this entire document before you start. Test your CYA level. The CYA level for the Green Swamp Algae Tactic should be 20-90 ppm. Chlorine in water is subject to being destroyed by the UV rays of the sun. The loss of chlorine to UV degradation is about 75% in 2 hours and in the next 2 hours 75% of that is lost. In just 4 hours you can have no chlorine. By adding CYA you keep the chlorine in the water 8 times longer. If your CYA level is less than 20 ppm, add 26 oz of CYA per 10,000 gallons. Granular CYA dissolves slowly and can take up to a week to completely dissolve. Be sure the CYA is completely dissolved before starting. If you add it through the skimmer, wait a couple of days before starting the Green Swamp Algae Tactic. During this tactic you will need to clean or backwash the filter and any undissolved CYA will be lost. You may also use the new instant conditioner (CYA) liquid. It dissolves instantly and gives you instant chlorine protection. Check with your local pool store for availability. If your CYA level is too high, drain and replace some water to get the level down below 90 ppm. The Green Swamp Algae Tactic uses an amount of chlorine that is 40% of CYA. So if CYA is 90 ppm, you will Copyright 2015 Lowry Consulting Group, LLC Page 2 All rights reserved. Duplication not permitted without written permission.
need to add 36 ppm of chlorine to the water and maintain or boost it back up for a few days. At 50 ppm of CYA, you will need 20 ppm of chlorine. You will need less chlorine when your CYA level is lower, but don t go too low (less than 20 ppm). If your CYA level is more than 90 ppm, drain an amount of water that will lower CYA to 50 ppm. For example, if your CYA level is 120 ppm, draining half of the water and refilling will make the CYA level 60 ppm. Once you know your CYA level, calculate the FC (Free Chlorine) algae shock level. The algae shock level is 40% of your CYA level in ppm. Example: 80 ppm CYA would need 32 ppm FC (80.40 = 32) You will need a test kit or method that can test for very high levels of chlorine. The best method of measuring high levels of chlorine is a FAS-DPD test. It can measure FC (free chlorine) and CC (combined chlorine) at very high levels with very good accuracy. However, you don t need to buy an expensive test kit. You can also do a dilution test for chlorine using your own test method. The overview is that you mix an amount of water with the pool water and then make the test as usual but multiply the result by the dilution factor. For example, if you mix one sample cell of pool water with one sample cell of bottled water and then fill the sample cell with some of the mixture and perform the test, you multiply the result by 2. You can mix 2 measures of bottled water with 1 measure of pool water and multiply by 3. Any convenient measure or container will work. Just make sure it is clean. Of course the dilution test requires accurate measuring. Any error will be multiplied by the dilution factor. If you are using test strips, you can measure out some pool water and mix it with measures of bottled water and mix. Then make the test using the mixture and multiply the result. Make sure you have enough chlorine. We recommend liquid chlorine or liquid bleach but you can use cal-hypo, or lithium hypo. We suggest having 2 times the amount needed to bring your pool to Shock Level. You can use the table below to determine the amount of chlorine to add. This could be from 4 to 10 gallons of liquid chlorine or 8 to 20 gallons of liquid bleach or more.
Chlorine Dose for 1.0 ppm increase in 10,000 gallons Chlorine Product Percent Active Amount Needed Liquid Chlorine 12.5 % 10.2 fl oz Liquid Chlorine 10 % 12.8 fl oz Liquid Bleach 8 % 15.3 fl oz Liquid Bleach 6 % 20.7 fl oz Liquid Bleach 5.25 % 24.0 fl oz Cal Hypo 48 % 2.8 oz Cal Hypo 65 % 2.1 oz Cal Hypo 73 % 1.8 oz Lithium Hypo 35 % 3.1 oz If the chlorine product you are using has a different available chlorine content than those listed, you can still use the chart to estimate how much product to use. Just find one that is close to one listed and adjust the amount. The Shock Level Dose To calculate the Shock Level Dose, you need 3 numbers The Amount Needed of Chlorine Product, the gallons in the pool and the Shock Level Dose Amount based on the CYA level in the water. 1. Amount Needed of Chlorine Product from Chart above: 2. Pool Volume Factor = Pool Gallons 10,000: 3. Dose Amount based on the CYA level in pool: (ppm CYA) 40% = Now multiply 1 2 3 - This is your Shock Level Dose. Example: 15,000 gallon pool with CYA of 80 ppm. We will use Liquid Chlorine 10 % to shock. 1. Amount Needed of Chlorine Product from Chart above: 12.8 fl oz. 2. Pool Volume Factor = Pool Gallons: 15,000 gallons 10,000 = 1.5 3. Dose Amount based on CYA Level: 80 ppm.40 = 32 ppm Now multiply 12.8 oz 1.5 32 = 614.4 fl oz of liquid chlorine 10% 614.4 fl oz 128 fl oz per gallon = 4.8 gallons (We suggest you have 2 times this amount on hand.) Adjust the ph of the pool water to 7.2 7.4 before you start. The ph will go up when you add the Shock Level Dose. On your test kit, the sample should be an orange color at 7.4.
Make sure the pump and filter are working properly. The pump will be running 24/7 during the Green Swamp Algae Tactic. This will ensure that chlorine gets everywhere in your pool. You will need to know how to clean or backwash the filter and know the clean filter pressure gauge reading. If you have had metal stains or if you have recently used a copper based algaecide, you should lower the ph down to 7.0 before starting and add a sequestering agent or a stain preventer before continuing. If you have a chlorine generator or SWG (salt water generator) or you use chlorine tablets, they will not add a shock dose of chlorine. You will need to buy liquid chlorine or bleach or cal hypo for killing algae. START HERE Start early in the day. Add the Shock Level Dose that you calculated above or add an amount of chlorine to bring the chlorine level up to shock level which is 40% of the CYA level. In the example, we calculated 4.8 gallons or 32 ppm. Wait 30 minutes. Then test the FC (Free Chlorine) level using the dilution method, FAS-DPD test or others. Now add enough chlorine to bring the FC back up to shock level. If your Shock Level is 32 ppm and you test the water and it is now 5 ppm, you will need to add 27 ppm more chlorine. Use the chart and calculate the amount as above. For 27 ppm in 15,000 gallons using 10% liquid chlorine we would need 12.8 fl oz 1.5 27 = 518.4 fl oz or 518.4 128 fl oz per gallon = 4.05 gallons. Repeat this cycle: Test > Add enough chlorine to get back to Shock Level > Wait 30 minutes > Repeat. Repeat until the FC level stays at shock level for 1 hour. If the shock level is 32 ppm, you stop repeating the cycle when the FC is 32 ppm after 1 hour. When the FC level is only going down by less than 5 ppm, you can test once per hour. While waiting, get a skimmer net or leaf net and remove all you can from the pool. After one or two cycles, brush the entire pool. Don t forget ladders and steps. By brushing, you disrupt the biofilm and expose the algae to the chlorine. Brush once a day until the algae is gone. Check the filter pressure gauge. The filter can quickly fill up with dead algae and other stuff. You should clean or backwash the filter when the filter pressure gauge is 8 PSI more than starting or clean filter pressure.
Daily Follow Up Maintain the Shock Level until there is very little difference in test results from one hour to the next. Test the water twice a day and bring the FC back up to shock level if needed. It is also important to brush the entire pool once a day until the algae is completely gone. If you think all of the algae are gone, test FC late in the afternoon and again early in the morning. If the FC results are within 1.0 ppm of each other or lower, then all of the algae is gone. If the difference between night and morning tests is more than 1.0 ppm, add the amount of chlorine necessary to get back to the shock level dose and try again the next day. At the end of the Green Swamp Algae Tactic the water will be cloudy or gray. You should continue to run the pump 24/7 for a few days until the water becomes clear. Watch the filter pressure gauge and clean or backwash when the PSI goes up by 8 PSI more than starting or clean pressure. Borates May Help Because you have had an algae problem, we suggest you use borate in your pool. It will prevent the ph from drifting up and it can help chlorine prevent algae. Recommended Borate level is 50 ppm. There are 3 types of borate products. To raise the borate level in 10,000 gallons add one of these chemicals: 10 ppm 50 ppm Borax (not Boraxo) 118.0 oz (7.4 lbs) 590 oz (36.9 lbs) Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate 90.0 oz (5.6 lbs) 450 oz (28 lbs) Boric acid 76.0 oz (4.75 lbs) 380 oz (23.75 lbs) This seems like a lot but you only have to add it once unless you drain a large amount of water and replace. TO PREVENT ALGAE Maintain a free chlorine level of 7.5% of the CYA level. Example: 50 ppm CYA x 7.5 % = 3.75 ppm free chlorine.